What is an at bat in baseball?
Q: What is an at bat in baseball?
A: An at bat in baseball is a statistic used to measure certain performance metrics, such as batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. It is a more narrow definition of a plate appearance.
Q: When does a batter start with an at bat?
A: A batter starts with an at bat every time he faces a pitcher.
Q: What are the cases when the batter gets "no time at bat"?
A: The batter gets "no time at bat" when he receives a base on balls (BB), is hit by a pitch (HBP), hits a sacrifice fly or sacrifice hit (also known as sacrifice bunt), is awarded first base due to interference or obstruction usually by the catcher, or if the inning ends while he is still at bat (due to the third out being made by a runner caught stealing, for example).
Q: How does Major League Baseball define an at-bat?
A: Major League Baseball defines an at-bat as "Number of times batted, except that no time at bat shall be charged when a player: (1) hits a sacrifice bunt or sacrifice fly; (2) is awarded first base on four called balls; (3) is hit by a pitched ball; or (4) is awarded first base because of interference or obstruction..."
Q: Is there any situation where the batter will come back up to have another turn in the same inning after having no time recorded for his current turn?
A: Yes. If the inning ends while he was still up to bat due to the third out being made by another runner caught stealing, then he will come back up again in the next inning but without any balls and strikes against him.
Q: Does replacing one hitter with another count as having no time recorded for that particular turn?
A: Yes. If one hitter is replaced with another before their turn has been completed then they will not have any time recorded for that particular turn unless they were replaced with two strikes and their replacement struck out.
